Posts tagged Windshield Perspective

A small section at the base of King Street in Alexandria, Virginia could become a car-free zone. The project is still in the research stage, and city staff are currently looking into closing some combination of the 100 block and 200 block of King Street to car traffic to make the space even more attractive and useful. Keep reading…

AAA does not like speed cameras, and pursues a particular (and effective) strategy of constantly filing FOIA requests for data about the revenue from speed cameras and putting out press releases which cast the cameras in a negative light and try to frame the cameras as mostly being about a cash grab by local governments. Keep reading…

Loneliness is reaching epidemic levels, but these interventions could help cities foster connection. Minneapolis is set to pass a plan that would upzone the entire city and do away with single-family zoning. The FRA is finally allowing lighter passenger railcars made in Asian and European countries on US rails. Keep reading…

Calls for an Outer Beltway, or a new ring road far outside the Capital Beltway, have begun anew with the area's Transportation Planning Board agreeing to study the issue. It's still a bad idea, because a new road won't actually help any of the drivers supporters say it will. In fact, it could make things even worse. Keep reading…

With the new school year soon to start, it’s a good time to consider how we are or aren’t, teaching our students to think critically about their city. I teach high schoolers in Northern Virginia, and listening to them, I see how they’re primed to think about driving as “normal” and all other transportation choices as undesirable. Keep reading…

Many of the region’s schools closed for a full week after the recent blizzard, leaving parents to scramble for childcare and students missing out on valuable classroom time. That’s what happens when your storm recovery efforts prioritize making it easy to drive rather than giving everyone a safe way to move around. Keep reading…

Many proposed transit projects in our region, from streetcars to bus rapid transit and the Purple Line, involve vehicles running in the street. Giving transit a place on our busy streets can be a hard sell, especially when it means displacing cars. But a recent trip to Minneapolis shows how it can create better places for everyone, including drivers. Keep reading…

When the White Flint Sector Plan was adopted in 2010 after years of collaboration between residents, property owners, county officials, and civic leaders, it was hailed as a triumph of responsible, sustainable development. Now, county engineers are poised to undo years of work by pushing through a road design that does not include any of the elements the plan promised the community. Keep reading…

Last week, WJLA ran a story by Tom Roussey about drivers speeding, an illegal yet common behavior:
Over several days of taking footage, ABC7’s cameras captured hundreds of thousands of motorists in different parts of DC, ignoring speed limits.
DC Police say it’s every bit as illegal for a motorist to do that as run a red light — but our video shows that it… Keep reading…

Google released a video showing how its prototype self-driving car can deal with many situations on urban streets, such as construction zones bicyclists. The car politely waits for a cyclist who signals to move into the car’s lane, and waits for a cyclist to pass from behind before turning.
Keep reading…

In 2012, DC changed the traffic patterns on Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park to make it more friendly to pedestrians, then reversed course following strong complaints from many Georgetown residents including Councilmember Jack Evans. The issue came up in my interviews with Evans and Mayor Vince Gray.
Keep reading…

Complete streets, or the idea that roads should be safe and effective for all users, aim to upend the social order, moving cars from first to last. Despite endless discussion of “safety” and “the law,” many people seem to be upset by social, rather than legal violations of the rules.
While the majority remains polite, a vocal minority is extremely attached… Keep reading…

You’re driving along in downtown DC. You get a green light and start moving, but just as you get to the next corner the light turns red. It’s frustrating! But it’s no conspiracy. There could be reasons this happens, even besides trying to help pedestrians and cyclists.
Adam Tuss’s latest NBC TV news segment brings the shocking revelation that drivers… Keep reading…

Austerity brings uncertainty; Red top critics have their say; A growing industry; Montgomery has changed; Where do new DC residents come from?; Get on the bus; The pedestrian death double standard; Drivers outraged about driving speed limit. Keep reading…